Halloween is a pretty big deal in Boston. In some neighborhoods, it’s as big a deal as baseball. My neighborhood goes all out for Halloween. (Coincidentally, the Red Sox World Series Championship parade will also make its way through these parts.)
Tonight, our neighborhood playground will be swarmed like no other day, with kids and parents (moms and dads), and even grandparents. Kids run wild, allowed to finally wield swords, and pizza boxes are piled high. It’s a sort of coming out party for neighborhood newborns too, who make their debut as pumpkins and ducks. A huge hayride carts families around the block and glow sticks on strings are for sale.
Before long, everyone filters out. Many start out at a nearby city home (mansion, actually), whose owners stage quite the party every year, with Hollywood style decorations in the yard, wine, shrimp, and other delicacies for the grownups, along with punch and chicken nuggets for the kids. Very generous indeed. Then, it’s time to trek up and down the several blocks closed to cars, for the candy.
I love M&Ms, Hershey bars, and Reese’s peanut butter cups, so Halloween is a must for me. But more than that, I love the sense of community that night. Parents put on costumes, not to outdo each other, but just for the fun of it. It’s a time to catch up with neighbors I haven’t bumped into in months, and a time to hang out with the kids, in the street, after dark.
Admittedly, I personally haven’t worn a costume on Halloween since before I had kids. I dressed up as Madonna for an ’80s party on the Cape this summer, and I wore a mask and satin gown for a Carnival-themed fundraiser at the Boston Opera House a few years back, but nothing on October 31. However, in honor of this Halloween eve, I pulled together some fun, tasteful, and crafty masks on Keep.com. Check out today’s Keep blog post and my ongoing Masked! collection, which includes over 50 cute masks so far.
Find masks on KEEP:
1 Fox Mask
4 Cat Mask
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